


A Mistletoe Kiss

by KrysKrossZee



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Angst, Christmas, Christmas Fluff, Christmas Party, Drinking, Drunkenness, F/M, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Mistletoe
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-18
Updated: 2020-12-18
Packaged: 2021-03-11 03:07:31
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,266
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28158051
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/KrysKrossZee/pseuds/KrysKrossZee
Summary: Hermione wants to host a party so she can impress a certain someone, but the someone isn't who Harry thinks it is.
Relationships: Hermione Granger/Harry Potter
Comments: 9
Kudos: 68
Collections: Harmony Advent Collection 2020





	A Mistletoe Kiss

**Author's Note:**

> I had a lot of fun writing this one, but I always do when it comes to Harmony. Thank you to Harmony & Co for hosting and to thinmint93 for betaing!

"You need to take that down before Luna gets here." Harry nodded to the mistletoe that he had only just managed to sidestep around. Hermione had hung some in every single doorway in Grimmauld Place which honestly Harry thought was a step too far, but he knew that this was also the first Christmas party that she had ever hosted and she wanted it to be a success. Harry on the other hand had just wanted the holidays to be a quiet affair, which was why he had opted to stay at the Black family home instead of the Burrow in the first place. When Hermione had asked to stay with him, he hadn't had the heart to tell her no, mainly because he enjoyed having her nearby, but also because he knew that other than the Burrow, she didn't really have anywhere else to go.

"Why should I take them down?" Hermione asked, glancing over at Harry from where she was fixing the decorations on the tree. She didn't look at him so he quickly realised that his dance to get around the mistletoe without being caught under it was unwarranted.

"Nargles or wrackspurts or something. You'll only give her a starting point for a whole conversation about them and how the mistletoe and now the house is infested."

Hermione gave a short laugh. "Harry. Trust me when I say that Luna will go on about whatever Luna wants with or without them being present. Will you lighten up? It's a party."

"And it's not started yet so I can be grumpy for a bit longer if that's what I want." Harry pointed out before he flopped down on one of the sofas. He knew that he could offer to help, but he didn't really want to. He knew that the only reason that Hermione was hosting this party was to impress Theodore Nott which he thought was ridiculous. He didn't understand why she needed to work so hard to make someone who supposedly already liked her notice her. It was backwards, but he supposed that was the real reason that she didn't want to take the mistletoe down. If she could get her almost-boyfriend to pass underneath one then he would have no chance but to kiss her.

Harry would be lying if he said that he wasn't jealous. He knew he was. He'd had a crush on Hermione for years, but he had never acted on it. When he had first realised, she had almost been with Ron - and Ron definitely was not in a place where he could act on his feelings back then. When that relationship had turned into a non-starter, he had tried to give her some time to regroup, especially as they were all grieving and healing after the war, but he left it too long and she ended up in a long-distance relationship with Krum. At that point Harry had to make himself move on; he couldn't be the creepy guy friend who was always hanging around trying to get the girl, but as usual Hermione hadn't made that at all easy when she'd followed him to Grimmauld Place.

He'd tried not to watch her relationship with Krum implode while he dated a string of different women, most of whom he knew were just after the fame that the Potter name brought with it, but he hadn't particularly cared. They had been a welcome distraction and his serial dating was something that he had kept up when Hermione and Krum had broken up and Hermione had set her sights on Theo. He knew that she was completely unaware of how he felt, but he couldn't help but be annoyed at the way she seemed to continuously parade Theo in front of him.

Harry heard Hermione let out a sigh and he knew that she was rolling her eyes at how immature he was being but he decided to pretend that he couldn't care less as he rested one foot on his knee and watched her as she adjusted the ornaments on the tree that she had insisted that they put up. Apparently she felt that this place needed some livening up. Harry knew that she was right, but at the same time he couldn't shake the thoughts that this place wasn't meant to be one of joy and the portrait that still hung on the stairs made it clear to him that it hadn't been one for a long time.

Today it at least appeared to be a happy place, in fact it almost looked like a home that someone might actually enjoy living in. Harry tried not to feel guilty about how uncomfortable that made him. At some point he might actually come to accept that this was now his house and no longer the Black family home, but today was far from that day.

Hermione eventually left the room to go and make sure that the mulled wine was heating nicely,and Harry supposed that he should probably go and get himself ready or else their friends would probably start to worry about him - if they weren't already worried. He was sort of listless at the moment, living off of his parents money. He had trained with Ron to become an auror but after his first day out in the field he had seen how that was far from the place for him. A healer had told him that he was suffering from PTSD and so Harry had tended his resignation. The problem was that now Harry didn't know what he wanted to do with his life, that was the price he paid when he was literally raised to die.

Harry had just made his way back down the stairs when the first of the guests arrived and he was relieved to see that Ron was one of them. Despite Harry currently pining over Ron's ex, he was still the best friend that he had ever had and Harry was genuinely pleased to have him there. Ron was fortunate to dodge the mistletoe that hung in the doorway to the living room, almost as if he knew it was there, which he supposed was a possibility if Hermione had told him that it was there or what she was planning.

"You're really on board with this?" The question slipped out of Harry's mouth before he had even had the chance to process his own words.

"Huh?" Ron asked, already stuffing his face with the snacks that Hermione had put out on the table. "I'm really on board with what?" He asked as he turned to face Harry, talking through a mouthful of peanuts.

"This." Harry gestured vaguely to the room and the party guests that were starting to arrive in dribs and drabs, mainly through the dining room doorway and Harry realised that Hermione was deliberately directing them that way. Still he couldn't help but watch the mistletoe out of the corner of his eye, just to see if she managed to trap Theo or if this whole party was an entire bust.

"You need to relax, mate." Ron said with a small laugh. "You're starting to turn green."

Harry huffed at that and made himself sit down on the sofa, deliberately facing away from the doorway so that he would stop obsessing about the stupid decorative flower that hung there. He was fixating and he was furious at himself for it, but he knew that was a personality trait that he couldn't help.

"What's an acceptable time to disappear to my room ?" He asked instead of even arguing that he wasn't jealous or that he wasn't at all relaxed.

"Unless you get lucky, not at all considering that this is your house." Ron clapped him on the back and Harry found himself considering his options. A quick fuck could save him from having to watch the Theomione show but as he glanced around the room, he could see that his options were either someone that was too good a friend to screw with without it becoming a problem or someone that he had already screwed. It really was a fine line between the two anyway.

"This sucks." He muttered, his eyes flickering towards the window and the darkening street outside.

"Preaching to the choir." Ron hummed though when Harry glanced in the redhead's direction he didn't appear to be too bothered. Harry had to wonder if he actually knew what this party was all about and whether he would actually still be on board if that was the case. "You seriously need to lighten up though."

"Yeah, well." Harry rolled his eyes before he caught sight of Hermione who had now made her way into the living room and like a living cliché, his heart skipped a beat. At some point she had changed and now instead of the jeans and jumper that she had been wearing when she'd been setting up for the party and now she was wearing a short blue dress that reminded him of ice and seemed rather fitting for a Christmas party.

He heard Ron chuckle and he was all too aware in that moment that Ron knew that Harry had done his best to hide from his best friend, or at least not mentioned so that they would never have to discuss how horribly awkward that was. He tried his best to push that aside now as he watched her, noting that Theo wasn't currently by her side, in fact he was noticeably missing from the party, which only made him think 'good' to himself.

Eventually Harry managed to snap himself out of his grump, mainly because Ginny and Luna ended up coming over and it was almost impossible to remain grumpy while in Luna's presence Especially since Ginny was an almost entirely new person since the two of them had gotten together. Harry had tried not to take that too personally; it wasn't his fault, nor was it Ginny's that she had been convinced that the only true path to happiness had been to be in a heterosexual relationship. He had lied to himself in almost the same way as she had anyway as he has convinced himself he needed to be with her simply because she was the first person who had ever been attracted to him and that was meant to be enough.

Drinks started to flow soon after they came over and this really did help him to relax and Harry soon found that he was actually starting to enjoy himself, which was a new sort of feeling for him. He didn't know why it was such a chore for him to be happy, but that was the way that he seemed to be programmed now and he was sure that this was just a symptom of his PTSD.

The party was starting to wind down when Harry realised that he may actually be tipsy. He was sure that he was seeing double when he finally caught a glimpse of Theo, but he was on his way to the bathroom and didn't really have time to stop to see whether he had found Hermione or not. The worst part about Grimmauld Place wasn't that it felt like it was haunted; but that finding a bathroom was a chore, even for someone that had lived here for a while.

He ran his fingers through his hair as he made his way back towards the party after relieving his bladder. He'd caught sight of himself in the mirror and he had soon realised why Hermione would sooner be with Theo than with him. Not only was he a mess inside, he was a mess on the outside too. He appraised his hair sticking up and bags under his eyes grumpily.

Harry was so busy chuckling to himself about this that he didn't even realise that he had forgotten to go through the kitchen until he found himself rooted to the spot in the doorway. It took him a moment longer than was probably normal to remember about the mistletoe that was hanging over his head, but when he did remember about it he tilted his head back slightly to look up at it. Briefly he wondered if there really were nargles living in it before someone's hand on his cheek snapped him back to reality.

Harry blinked rapidly as he tilted his head towards whoever it was only to be met with a pair of brown eyes that he was pretty sure could see all the way to his soul. He didn't have time to think about who they belonged to - though if he had then he would have known exactly whose they were - before a pair of lips were pressed to his. Harry was able to move as soon as he was kissed, but he found that all he could do was wrap his arms around her neck and kiss her back.

When Hermione finally pulled back, Harry's brain seemed to engage. Had she really just done that or had he imagined it? Was he really that drunk? He'd only had a couple of drinks, but that apparently didn't mean anything. He then realised that he had been staring at her for what was probably far too long and gave himself a little shake before he could finally speak.

"Why did you just…?" He asked, gesturing vaguely to her and the mistletoe that was still above his head. It wasn't as if there weren't other girls who would jump at the chance to kiss him, so why had she been the one to take up the task.

"You really are that dense, huh?" Hermione's eyebrow was raised in a way that made Harry want to both laugh and retreat both at the same time. "I've been waiting to do that for a while."

"What?" Harry's voice came out in an unmanly squeak but that was low on his list of priorities just then. He needed to know what exactly she meant by that, and everything else be damned. "You've wanted to - what? What about Nott?"

Hermione let out a laugh. "What about him?" She asked and Harry could feel his face flushing bright red. He didn't need to look in the mirror to know how ridiculous he looked now. "He's over there talking to Ron now that you two have  _ finally _ parted ways."

Harry blinked rapidly as he wondered why she had stressed that word. Was he really that drunk that the world had stopped making sense? "I thought this party was to get Theo to notice you…" He said slowly as he looked over in Theo and Ron's direction before his eyes met with Hermione's again.

She was laughing again in a way that was like music to Harry's ears but also made him extremely nervous. Was she laughing at him? Why was she laughing at him? "Not me, you plonker. We got to talking at work, sure, but he's gay. He wanted to get  _ Ron _ to notice him."

Harry stared at her. This whole time he had been jealous for no apparent reason. He didn't manage to snap out of his thoughts until she touched his cheek, her fingers running over his skin lightly.

"Are you okay..?" She asked slowly, probably now all too aware that Harry wasn't quite himself.

"I.. You kissed me." He managed to stutter out. That part hadn't really sunk in at all, but then that wasn't a surprise to him at all. He hadn't expected to have to question the first time that Hermione kissed him though and he found himself wishing that he was able to figure out what his own thoughts even meant.

"Come through to the kitchen with me?" Hermione asked as she took Harry's hand into her own, lacing their fingers together. Harry couldn't refuse, not when he knew that in the kitchen a sober up potion was probably waiting for him and a nice strong coffee. He needed to clear his head so that he could fully understand what was happening here so he let her lead him through to their kitchen.

The next few moments seemed to go by in a daze and that was something that Harry supposed that he was sort of grateful for until he'd managed to get a potion down his throat and saw the way that Hermione was looking at him, almost as if he were the best thing on the planet and in a way that scared him more than anything else ever had in his life before.

"Better?" She asked as she sat down at the table next to him. "Or do you need another?"

"I only had a couple." Harry mumbled before he allowed himself to look at her again, this time without his beer goggles fitted under his glasses. *I think it was that kiss that actually made me feel drunk."

"You do, huh?" Hermione had an eyebrow lifted as she looked him up and down before she leaned back in her chair. "But you remember the kiss so that's promising." She paused for a moment before she continued. "Do you… Harry, do you… I need to know if you feel the same the same way about me as I do about you. I guess that's the real reason that I made you sober up."

It was Harry's turn to laugh. He wished that he could somehow just let her into his head so that she could see the way he had been pining after her for literal years, but then he realised how creepy that would probably be and he decided to be grateful that she couldn't see it.

"Hermione." He said, his voice taking on a serious tone as he tried to make himself keep his voice steady as he tried to tell her the words that he had wanted to say for what felt like forever. "I love you. And you've no idea how long I've wanted to tell you that for."

"And yet I still had to trap you under mistletoe to get a kiss? Interesting." Hermione hummed. Her fingers were back on his cheek again now in a way that commanded his full attention.

"I genuinely thought you were interested in Nott." Harry said with a small shrug. He still wasn't completely convinced that there wasn't something going on between Theodore and Hermione, but considering that the ex-Slytherin was still in the living room with his best friend, he supposed that he was going to have to believe it for now at least. "I was waiting for the right time to tell you and the right time never came."

"That… I can relate." Hermione said quietly, her fingers lingering on his cheek before she leaned in and pressed another soft kiss to his lips. This time Harry returned it with vigor. His head was clear, or at least it was no longer swimming in alcohol and he was able to see the situation clearly and for what it was as he kissed her back.

No more words passed between them; no more words were required as Harry tugged Hermione onto his lap and kissed her so forcefully that their teeth crashed together more than once, but he didn't care. The next thing that he was even aware of was that they had somehow made their way out of the Grimmauld Place kitchen and were now upstairs in his bedroom, their clothes being pulled from their bodies and being thrown to the floor. Harry was getting everything that he wanted.


End file.
